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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27323200">meta - Michael Burnham as first officer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_class/pseuds/m_class'>m_class</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Discovery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crew Dynamics, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Starfleet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:08:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>394</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27323200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_class/pseuds/m_class</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p><a href="https://starfleetdoesntfirefirst.tumblr.com/post/189393660504/whats-the-mood-outside">Orig. posted to Tumblr</a><br/>November 2019</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Michael Burnham &amp; Crew of the Starship Discovery, Michael Burnham &amp; Crew of the Starship Shenzhou, Michael Burnham &amp; Danby Connor, Michael Burnham &amp; Philippa Georgiou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>meta - Michael Burnham as first officer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><a href="https://starfleetdoesntfirefirst.tumblr.com/post/189393660504/whats-the-mood-outside">Orig. posted to Tumblr</a><br/>November 2019</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>[reblog of gifs by the-goofball of Georgiou asking "What's the mood outside?"]</p><p></p><div class="post-reblog-content">
  <p></p>
  <div class="post-body">
    <p>This is one of my favorite little moments from the pilot, and something I missed when we didn’t get any more of it all through S1 and S2: Burnham being shown as the officer in charge of—and attuned to—the ship’s personnel in her role as XO. Star Trek canon establishes that first officers deal with personnel matters, with the crew coming to them with queries and requests, and the captain going to them on matters related to the crew, as Georgiou does in this moment. I love watching Burnham as scientist, Burnham as friend, and Burnham as colleague and leader to the senior staff (as we finally get to see in some of the meetings in S2), but even in S2, the writers never give us any scenes that feature Burnham fulfilling her broader leadership role in the organization of the ship.</p>
    <p>Having her finger on the pulse of what is happening with a crew of dozens and dozens of people is clearly something Burnham has succeeded at with abplomb as first officer on the Shenzhou—Georgiou relies her judgement at a moment like this, and is going to recommend that she get her own command. And we can see the way crew like Detmer and Connor like Burnham and look to her for cues; in Connor’s death scene, we get a heartbreaking glimpse at a relationship where he looks to her as a trusted authority figure.</p>
    <p>Since crunchy organizational stuff was a big part of what drew me to the Star Trek franchise in the first place, I’m obviously biased, but in S3 onwards, I’d really love to see Michael featured in her capacity as an enmeshed leader of the entire crew, not just the bridge crew or 3-5 people on away missions. I am <em>so</em> looking forward to the day when she’s actually captain and we get to see her leadership style in the big chair, but if DSC must make us wait another season before that happens, I’d love to see scenes that show her handling personnel matters and otherwise being a highly-qualified first officer with years of experience. Like, what was the point of doing a ‘climbing through the ranks’ Trek if they aren’t even going to show their first officer protagonist <em>being a first officer?</em></p>
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